Free radicals Intermediates

SECTION 10.3. REACTIONS INVOLVING FREE-RADICAL INTERMEDIATES 

The radicals formed by the addition step are rapidly oxidized to cations, which give rise to the final product by intramolecular capture of a nucleophilic carboxylate group. With diones such as 1,3-cyclohexadienone, one of the carbonyl oxygens serves as the internal nucleophile  

Reaction conditions have been developed under which the cyclized radical can react in some manner other than hydrogen atom abstraction. One such reaction is abstraction of an iodine atom. The cyclization of 2-iodo-2-methyl-6-heptyne is a 

In this reaction, the trialkylstannane serves to initiate chains, but it is present in low concentration to minimize the rate or H-atom abstraction from the stannane. Under these conditions, the chain is propagated by iodine atom abstraction. 

From a synthetic point of view, the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of the cyclization are of paramount importance. As discussed in Section 11.2.3.3 of Part A, the order of preference for cyclization of alkyl radicals is 5-exo 6-endo 6-exo 7-endo S-endo 1-exo because of stereoelectronic preferences. For relatively rigid cyclic structures, proximity and alignment factors determined by the specific geometry of the ring system are of major importance. Theoretical analysis of radical addition indicates that the major interaction of the attacking radical is with the alkene LUMO.321 The preferred direction of attack is not perpendicular to the it system, but rather at an angle of about 110°. 

Reactions Involving Carbocations, Carbenes, and Radicals as Reactive Intermediates 

Radical cyclization reactions have been extensively applied in synthesis. Among the first systems to be studied were unsaturated mixed acetals of bromoacetaldehyde.323 

With radical generation using trisubstituted stannanes BusSnH, AIBN 

CHAPTER 10 REACTIONS INVOLVING CARBOCATIONS, CARBENES, AND RADICALS AS REACTIVE INTERMEDIATES 

With radical generation using trisubstituted stannanes 

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Chlorination of methane and halogenation of alkanes generally proceed by way of free radical intermediates Alkyl radicals are neutral and have an unpaired electron on carbon... 

The second mechanism is the one followed when addition occurs opposite to Markovmkov s rule Unlike electrophilic addition via a carbocation intermediate this alternative mechanism is a chain reaction involving free radical intermediates It is pre sented m Figure 6 7... 

Using an sp hybridized carbon for the carbon that has the unpaired electron make a molecular model of the free radical intermediate in this reaction... 

Cation (Section 1 2) Positively charged ion Cellobiose (Section 25 14) A disacchande in which two glu cose units are joined by a 3(1 4) linkage Cellobiose is oh tamed by the hydrolysis of cellulose Cellulose (Section 25 15) A polysaccharide in which thou sands of glucose units are joined by 3(1 4) linkages Center of symmetry (Section 7 3) A point in the center of a structure located so that a line drawn from it to any element of the structure when extended an equal distance in the op posite direction encounters an identical element Benzene for example has a center of symmetry Cham reaction (Section 4 17) Reaction mechanism m which a sequence of individual steps repeats itself many times usu ally because a reactive intermediate consumed m one step is regenerated m a subsequent step The halogenation of alkanes is a chain reaction proceeding via free radical intermediates... 

It might be noted that most (not all) alkenes are polymerizable by the chain mechanism involving free-radical intermediates, whereas the carbonyl group is generally not polymerized by the free-radical mechanism. Carbonyl groups and some carbon-carbon double bonds are polymerized by ionic mechanisms. Monomers display far more specificity where the ionic mechanism is involved than with the free-radical mechanism. For example, acrylamide will polymerize through an anionic intermediate but not a cationic one, A -vinyl pyrrolidones by cationic but not anionic intermediates, and halogenated olefins by neither ionic species. In all of these cases free-radical polymerization is possible. 

Modem real time instmmental methods permit analyses of unstable transient species and the free-radical intermediates as well. These methods have gready expanded the scope and power of VPO studies, but important basic questions remain unresolved. Another complication is the role of surface. Peroxide decompositions and radical termination reactions can occur on a surface so that, depending on circumstances, surfaces can have either an inhibiting or accelerating effect. Each surface has varying amounts of adventitious contaminants and also accumulates deposits during reaction. Thus no two surfaces are exactly alike and each changes with time. 

Acylation. Aliphatic amine oxides react with acylating agents such as acetic anhydride and acetyl chloride to form either A[,A/-diaLkylamides and aldehyde (34), the Polonovski reaction, or an ester, depending upon the polarity of the solvent used (35,36). Along with a polar mechanism (37), a metal-complex-induced mechanism involving a free-radical intermediate has been proposed. 

In the case of photochemical reactions, light energy must be absorbed by the system so that excited states of the molecule can form and subsequendy produce free-radical intermediates (24,25) (see Photochemicaltbchnology). 

The alkyl ethers of benzoin undergo dkect photofragmentation upon absorption of uv energy at ca 360 nm to produce two free-radical intermediates. 

The principal components of atmospheric chemical processes are hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, oxygenated hydrocarbons, ozone, and free radical intermediates. Solar radiation plays a crucial role in the generation of free radicals, whereas water vapor and temperature can influence particular chemical pathways. Table 12-4 lists a few of the components of each of these classes. Although more extensive tabulations may be found in "Atmospheric Chemical Compounds" (8), those listed in... 

Since these early experiments, a great deal of additional information about the existence and properties of free-radical intermediates has been developed. In this chapter, we will discuss the structure of free radicals and some of the special properties associated with free radicals. We will also discuss some of the key chemical reactions in which free-radical intermediates are involved. 

The presence of oxygen can modify the course of a fiee-radical chain reaction if a radical intermediate is diverted by reaction with molecular oxygen. The oxygen molecule, with its two unpaired electrons, is extremely reactive toward most free-radical intermediates. The product which is formed is a reactive peroxyl radical, which can propagate a chain reaction leading to oxygen-containing products. 

Radical chlorination reactions show a substantial polar effect. Positions substituted by electron-withdrawing groups are relatively unreactive toward chlorination, even though the substituents may be potentially capable of stabilizing the free-radical intermediate " ... 

Some instances of incomplete debromination of 5,6-dibromo compounds may be due to the presence of 5j5,6a-isomer of wrong stereochemistry for anti-coplanar elimination. The higher temperature afforded by replacing acetone with refluxing cyclohexanone has proved advantageous in some cases. There is evidence that both the zinc and lithium aluminum hydride reductions of vicinal dihalides also proceed faster with diaxial isomers (ref. 266, cf. ref. 215, p. 136, ref. 265). The chromous reduction of vicinal dihalides appears to involve free radical intermediates produced by one electron transfer, and is not stereospecific but favors tra 5-elimination in the case of vic-di-bromides. Chromous ion complexed with ethylene diamine is more reactive than the uncomplexed ion in reduction of -substituted halides and epoxides to olefins. ... 

Carboxylic acids react with xenon difluoride to produce unstable xenon esters The esters decarboxylate to produce free radical intermediates, which undergo fluonnation or reaction with the solvent system Thus aliphatic acids decarboxylate to produce mainly fluoroalkanes or products from abstraction of hydrogen from the solvent Perfluoro acids decarboxylate in the presence of aromatic substrates to give perfluoroalkyl aromatics Aromatic and vinylic acids do not decarboxylate [91] (equation 51)... 

Chain reaction (Section 4.17) Reaction mechanism in which a sequence of individual steps repeats itself many times, usually because a reactive intermediate consumed in one step is regenerated in a subsequent step. The halogenation of alkanes is a chain reaction proceeding via free-radical intermediates. 

There are very few homolytic reactions on triazolopyridines. A suggestion that the ring opening reactions of compound 1 involved free radical intermediates is not substantiated (98T9785). The involvement of radical intermediates in additions to ylides is discussed in Section IV.I. The reaction of radicals with compound 5 and its 1-substituted derivatives gives 4-substituted compounds such as 234 (96ZOK1085). A more detailed study of the reaction of the 1-methyl and 1-phenyl derivatives with r-butanol and ammonium persulfate produced 4-methyl substitution with a silver nitrate catalyst, and the side chain alcohol 235 without the catalyst (96ZOK1412). 

The reaction of lead tetraacetate (LTA) with monohydric alcohols produces functionalization at a remote site yielding derivatives of tetrahydrofuran (THF) 12). An example is the reaction of 1-pentanol with LTA in nonpolar solvents which produces 30% THF. The reaction, which is believed to proceed through free-radical intermediates, gives a variable distribution of oxidation products depending on solvent polarity, temperature, reaction time, reagent ratios, and potential angle strain in the product. 

Recently, an interesting reaction of -dinitrobenzene v/ith trialkylborane has been reported, in which the iritro group is replaced by an alkyl group in good yield fEq 913 " The reacdon is not a simple ionic reacdon, but proceeds via free radical intermediates... 

The wide variety of methods available for the synthesis of orga-noselenides,36 and the observation that the carbon-selenium bond can be easily cleaved homolytically to give a carbon-centered radical creates interesting possibilities in organic synthesis. For example, Burke and coworkers have shown that phenylselenolactone 86 (see Scheme 16), produced by phenylselenolactonization of y,S-unsaturated acid 85, can be converted to free radical intermediate 87 with triphenyltin hydride. In the presence of excess methyl acrylate, 87 is trapped stereoselectively, affording compound 88 in 70% yield 37 it is noteworthy that the intramolecular carbon-carbon bond forming event takes place on the less hindered convex face of bicyclic radical 87. 

Recently Boguslavskaya et al (Ref 49), on the basis of ESR studies, have suggested that thermal decompn of PA proceeds via the following free radical intermediates ... 

Becker et al., (1984) investigated the photo-CIDNP effect in the presence of crown ethers (see Sec. 11.2). CIDNP studies on the photolysis (Jiang et al., 1990) and on the NaBH4 reduction (Song et al., 1990) of arenediazonium ions showed that free radical intermediates are involved. 

There is a multiplicity of pathways for thermal dediazoniations. An analogous situation is to be expected for photochemical dediazoniations. Based on the general experience that light-sensitive reactions often involve free radical intermediates, it was commonly assumed that all photolytic dediazoniations are free radical reactions. Horner and Stohr s results (1952), mentioned above, could lead to such a conclusion. More sophisticated methods of photochemistry also began to be applied to investigations on arenediazonium salts, e. g., the study of photolyses by irradiation at an absorption maximum of the diazonium ion using broad-band or monochromatic radiation. This technique was advocated by Sukigahara and Kikuchi (1967 a, 1967 b,... 

Similarly, the reduction of riboflavin prosthetic groups (FP) of some flavoprotein dehydrogenases may also involve a free radical intermediate. 

It might be mentioned that matters are much simpler for organometallic compounds with less-polar bonds. Thus Et2Hg and EtHgCl are both definite compounds, the former is a liquid and the latter is a solid. Organocalcium reagents are also known, and they are formed from alkyl halides via a single electron transfer (SET) mechanism with free-radical intermediates. "... 

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